Senior Cybersecurity Full Stack Development Researcher

NREL • Golden, CO

4d

About The Position

NLR is located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for energy systems research and development. Join the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From our mission to our collaborative culture, NLR stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions. Our work helps strengthen U.S. industries, support job creation, and promote national economic growth. At NLR, you'll find a mission-driven environment supported by state-of-the-art facilities, multidisciplinary research teams, and strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other national laboratories. We offer robust professional development opportunities, and a competitive benefits package designed to support your career and well-being. The Cybersecurity System Analysis Group (CSAG) within NLR’s Cybersecurity Research Center performs research cybersecurity research on integrated energy systems with the goal of building resiliency and reducing risk across the energy sector. This is primarily accomplished through engaging with various partners to model and simulate energy systems to conduct research. Research areas include threat to consequence risk analysis, hardware & software security, supply chain security, and testing and evaluation. Researchers within CSAG have the opportunity to drive NLR research in energy system security and advance a rapidly growing cybersecurity portfolio. Team members work to utilize and build capability of the best-in-class ARIES Cyber Range to deploy applicable largescale test environments, perform hardware-in-the-loop technology experiments, and collaborate with other laboratory and government partners. CSAG is seeking an experienced senior cybersecurity research and developer professional to lead various cybersecurity research portfolios relating to NLR’s ARIES Cyber Range. The successful candidate will demonstrate a deep knowledge of full stack software development, offensive and defensive cybersecurity principals, as well as an ability to accomplish strategic and technical research objectives, directly task and coordinate on-site resources and individual contributors, collaborate with partners from across national labs, the Department of Energy, industry, and national security partners. This position builds and develops novel cybersecurity research and research areas as it pertains to existing and emerging energy systems. Researchers are responsible for creating innovative solutions and applying technical expertise to deliver impactful research and development to aid the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure.

Requirements

• Relevant PhD and 15 or more years of experience . Or, relevant Master's Degree and 18 or more years of experience . Or, relevant Bachelor's Degree and 20 or more years of experience . Exhibits an exceptional degree of ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. Apply and/or develop highly advanced technologies, scientific principles, theories and concepts. Viewed as an international expert within the field. Demonstrates leadership of complex technical projects. Project management competence. Demonstrated management of complex and/or high impact projects. Outstanding technical writing, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Relevant PhD and 9 or more years of experience . Or, relevant Master's Degree and 12 or more years of experience . Or, relevant Bachelor's Degree and 14 or more years of experience . Applies advanced scientific technical principles, theories and concepts. Contributes to the development of new principles and concepts. Considered a national subject matter expert. Demonstrates leadership in a number of areas, including all team, task and/or project lead responsibilities. Demonstrated management of complex and/or impactful projects. Excellent technical writing, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE security clearance at the Q/TS/SCI level. A polygraph may be required.
• Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE O 472.2A for additional information
• Deep experience using relevant cybersecurity standards and tools included but not limited to MITRE ATT&CK Framework, NIST CSF, detection tools, penetration testing and red teaming tools, and encryption
• Expert knowledge of technical field and related disciplines
• Experience leading and mentoring technical teams
• Expert understanding and application of project management principles, concepts, practices, and standards
• Exhibits an exceptional degree of ingenuity, creativity, resourcefulness, and teamwork
• Ability to travel as needed up to 10%
• Existing relationships within DOE program offices (e.g., DOE CESER) and/or the energy sector space with a focus on electric utilities, and demonstrated ability to leverage those relationships to create new collaborations and opportunities.
• Experience working with Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) with a preference in DOE National Laboratories

Nice To Haves

• The ideal candidate will have existing relationships within DOE program offices (e.g., DOE CESER) and/or within the energy sector, particularly with a focus on electric utilities.
• Experience working with Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), with a preference for DOE National Laboratories, is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Define and build the technical capabilities of the ARIES Cyber Range in order to advance modeling and simulation capabilities, reference architectures, threat-to-consequence analysis, and testing and evaluation.
• Defines and advances the laboratory’s strategic research vision for cybersecurity of critical infrastructure and energy systems.
• Leads the conception, design, and execution of complex, multi-organizational, or multi-disciplinary projects.
• Develops new research directions, scientific approaches, or technologies that shape the state of the art, to include software tool development and R&D.
• Represent NLR as the technical leader for the ARIES Cyber Range as well as the principal investigator for other large projects and programs
• Drives proposal strategy, identifies new sponsor opportunities, and secures external funding through established relationships with DOE program offices (e.g., DOE CESER) and energy-sector partners.
• Represents the organization in national-level forums, panels, and collaborations.
• Provides mentorship and technical leadership to senior staff and serves as an advisor on organizational priorities.
• Advance rigor, innovation, and impact of NLR’s cybersecurity research.
• Lead cyber business development efforts by aligning focus with the ARIES Cyber Range strategy.
• Contribute to and enhance the technical capabilities of the ARIES Cyber Range in order to advance modeling and simulation capabilities, reference architectures, threat-to-consequence analysis, and testing and evaluation.
• Leads significant projects or research tasks, ensuring technical excellence, timely delivery, and effective coordination among team members.
• Represent NLR by being the technical lead for large projects and programs which includes establishing research plans and processes, performing hands-on research, tasking other technical researchers, and presenting research results.
• Contributes to the development of new methods, tools, and approaches, and provides mentorship to less experienced staff.
• Collaborates with sponsors, DOE program offices, and energy-sector stakeholders to execute funded projects.
• Support cyber business development efforts by aligning focus with the ARIES Cyber Range strategy.
• Build research collaborations with the energy industry, other DOE labs and national security partners.

Benefits

• Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; short- and long-term disability insurance; pension benefits; 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match; life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance; personal time off (PTO) and sick leave; paid holidays; and tuition reimbursement.
• NLR employees may be eligible for, but are not guaranteed, performance-, merit-, and achievement- based awards that include a monetary component.
• Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees